On January 5, 2016, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Beijing with visiting Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond of the UK.
Wang Yi expressed that President Xi Jinping's successful state visit to the UK last October has lifted the bilateral relationship into the new height of "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century" and ushered it into the new historic stage of "golden era". Taking the elevated position of China-UK relations as an opportunity, the two sides should promote new progress in aspects of political mutual trust, strategy alignment, practical cooperation, people-to-people and cultural mutual learning and international cooperation by centering around the implementation of achievements from Xi Jinping's visit to the UK.
The two sides should further maintain high-level exchanges. China welcomes Prime Minister David Cameron to attend the G20 Summit in Hangzhou this year and visit China at the convenience of both sides to hold a new round of annual meeting between Chinese Premier and UK's Prime Minister. The two sides should do their best in holding high-level dialogues in such areas as people-to-people and cultural exchanges, economic, fiscal and financial affairs, strategies and security, so as to comprehensively plan and advance bilateral practical cooperation.
The two sides should further dovetail respective development strategies with focus on intensifying the "three dockings", namely the docking between the "Belt and Road" initiative and UK's infrastructure upgrading and retrofit plan, the docking between "Made in China 2025" and the "Strategy of UK Industry 2050" and the docking between the "Yangtze River Economic Belt" and the "Northern Powerhouse in the North of England", so as to further release the potential in bilateral cooperation and achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.
The two sides should further deepen practical cooperation in all sectors. China is willing to enhance cooperation with the UK mainly in fields including production capacity, finance and innovation, and actively advance China-UK collaboration in major projects of nuclear power, high-speed rail and others. China is ready to further strengthen cooperation with the UK under the framework of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The two sides should further promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges. China is willing to take turns with the UK to hold tourism years and jointly carry out facilitation measures such as mutual grant of two-year multiple-entry visas. Both sides should continuously boost cooperation in culture, education, sports, public health, youth, local affairs and others, therefore injecting new vitality to China-UK friendly exchanges in all domains and at all levels.
The two sides should further enhance international cooperation, keep close communication and coordination in the UN and other international organizations, and make joint efforts to properly solve relevant international and regional hotspot issues. China is willing to make close coordination with the UK to make the G20 Summit in Hangzhou a great success. China appreciates UK's positive support in accelerating the negotiation process of the investment treaty between China and the European Union (EU) and launching the feasibility study on the China-EU free trade area at an early date. It is hoped that the UK will urge the EU to fulfill its obligations as stipulated in Article 15 of the Protocol on China's Entry into the World Trade Organization in due course.
Philip Hammond expressed that he is glad that his first visit in the New Year is to China. This visit is aimed to, together with China, implement the important consensus reached by both leaders during President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK last October, and deepen bilateral cooperation as comprehensive strategic partnership. The UK side stands ready to strengthen bilateral high-level dialogues and communication in all fields, and Prime Minister David Cameron will be delighted to visit China to attend the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. The UK is willing to actively deepen the docking of development strategies with China and promote practical cooperation with China in infrastructure, nuclear energy, finance and other fields for early harvests. The UK attaches importance to China's "Belt and Road" initiative, and will take an active part in work concerning the AIIB. The UK reaffirms its willingness to be China's most open Western trade and investment partner and its vigorous devotion to promoting in-depth development of EU-China relations. The UK has been striving to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with China and is glad that both sides will take joint measures for visa facilitation. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, both sides should further strengthen cooperation in international affairs.
